Hillary Clinton dings China for handling of NSA leaker’s global flight, sees bad precedent

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Hillary Rodham Clinton says China hurt its relationship with the U.S. by allowing National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden to flee from Hong Kong.

The former secretary of state said Monday that she is “very disappointed” in the decision to let Snowden leave, despite a U.S. request to arrest him for extradition.

She says the former CIA employee engaged in “outrageous behaviour” by releasing sensitive documents that he contends show privacy violations by an authoritarian government.

She told an audience in Los Angeles Snowden’s exit from Hong Kong set a “bad precedent” that could unravel extradition treaties or other legal agreements between countries. He is now in Russia.

Her comments echoed criticism from the White House that Hong Kong’s refusal to detain Snowden had “unquestionably” damaged relations with China.